30Mar
WordPress Development 101: Your Beginner’s Guide [2026 Edition]
Are you a web developer looking to build a powerful, high-performance website with WordPress? Or are you a beginner eager to learn the WordPress development process from the ground up?
If yes, then you’re at the right place, this guide will help you understand why WordPress is the best there is and how easy it is to build an awesome website.
But why WordPress, why not any other web developer tools such as Wix or Drupal?
The answer is quite simple, WordPress power-up more than 43.6% of all websites in the world.
The answer is quite simple, WordPress power-up more than 43.6% of all websites in the world.
Not only that, WordPress has over:
- 30% of the world’s top 10 million websites run on WordPress.
- 14.73% of the top 100 websites globally are built using WordPress.
- WordPress offers an estimated 60,000+ plugins, enhancing functionality and customization.
By studying these stats, we can estimate how much active community WordPress holds, constant updates to no shortage of information, and an easy-to-access environment.
WordPress offers all that for free.
So, in this guide, I'll be providing you with an easy-to-understand guide to WordPress design and development:
Let’s dive right in.
How WordPress Works?
WordPress is an open-source project where anyone can contribute their effort and make something awesome.
First I’ll begin by briefly examining WordPress's operation to gain an understanding of what and how we can develop it.
The three primary parts of WordPress are plugins, themes, and the core system.
All of the default features that comprise the WordPress content management system are contained in the core code.
This covers everything, including the admin backend and features like scheduling posts, determining the strength of passwords, enabling user creation, and more.
Themes are in charge of a website's front end and how it appears and feels, whereas the core is in charge of the back end and how it functions.
WordPress theme example:
Although we create posts, pages, and other site content using the WordPress admin, the theme determines how our posts and pages are presented to users.
You now have a great deal of control over your website.
Installing and activating pre-made themes is one option; alternatively, you could go entirely outside the box and create your own unique designs.
All plugins do is give WordPress more functionality, to put it simply. To accomplish this, a plugin may alter a website's front-end and/or back-end.
Plugin example:
A good example would be a plugin that features a Tweet button for Twitter (X). You could configure some default settings for a user's tweet on the new settings page that would likely be created in the backend admin menu.
It would also add itself to a website's front end, most likely showing up beneath a post.
Now that we understand the 3 primary parts of WordPress, let's now move to WordPress development.
3 Key Steps to WordPress Development
Now that you understand what makes a good WordPress function, it's time to start learning. To get started, here are the three basic steps for designing and developing a WordPress website.
These steps will provide a solid foundation and a clear path to becoming a WordPress development expert.
1. Build Your Local WordPress Development Environment.
If you're concentrating on theme or plugin development, it's best to do your work locally. Tools like xampp will help you setup your own local WordPress development, try it, and test it,
This ensures that the testing, bug detection, and troubleshooting are limited to your local system.
When working with live client data, it is preferable to provide WordPress development services in a local environment.
This is because a live-work environment can result in significant data damage and loss if something goes wrong.
2. Learn New Language
To become a successful WordPress developer, you must first understand the four core elements of WordPress.
WordPress is a powerful content management system that runs on the following four main languages:
- HTML - Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML for short, is the quintessential internet language. Almost everything you see on the internet is written in HTML. This language serves as the foundation for WordPress and the websites built on it. HTML powers everything, including data tables, paragraph text, pages, titles, and headings.
- CSS, also known as Cascading Style Sheets, is the ideal complement to your basic HTML. If HTML is the foundation for your website, CSS is the paint and decor. CSS focuses on aspects of your website such as 'typography, text fonts, color scheme, etc.'
- PHP - Personal Home Page is a somewhat misleading title for such a versatile language. PHP has come a long way since its inception, evolving into a powerful Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP is used for data encryption, database access, automatic data file generation, and so on. As a result, PHP has become a language that can be used in all aspects of website development.
- MySQL - WordPress uses the PHP framework to retrieve and store data from the open-source relational MySQL database. MySQL powers WordPress's essential administrative features.
3. Key Areas of WordPress Development
WordPress is an extremely adaptable and frequently updated platform. It uses a number of interconnected systems to manage its various features. A skilled WordPress developer must be proficient in these core areas.
- WordPress backend development - The backend is the engine that powers WordPress. Any company that provides WordPress development services must have a thorough understanding of it. This includes tasks like translating content, correcting code errors, and answering user questions.
- Theme development - Themes are critical to the visual design of a WordPress website. They manage the site's appearance, style, and overall user experience.
- Plug-in Development - Plugins are tools that allow you to expand the capabilities of your WordPress site without changing the core code. The widespread availability of user-friendly plugins is a significant
Conclusion
Now that you know what's required to get started in WordPress development, you may feel overwhelmed.
Do not worry, it is normal to feel this way at first!
I cannot overstate how important it is not to be discouraged.
All coders must start somewhere. Most people struggle to understand concepts and become frustrated when they first start coding.
But it's the ones who persevere, never give up, and are constantly pushing themselves to learn who succeed--and it's this determination that distinguishes good coders from bad.
